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2 Copyright 2016 Rediker Software. All rights reserved. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement or nondisclosure agreement. The software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of those agreements. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording for any purpose other than the purchaser's personal use without the written permission of Rediker Software. Rediker and the Rediker logo are trademarks of Rediker Software, Inc. Other trademarks shown are the property of their respective owners. Rediker Software 2 Wilbraham Road Hampden, MA Visit our website at rediker.com. This guide was last updated on July 8, 2016.

3 Contents Introduction Get Started 6 Log in to Your Portal and Home Page 7 Configure Course Display Settings 9 Manage a Class: An Overview 11 Manage Classes 12 Add a Class Summary 13 Add a Class File or Link 16 Import Previous Year Content from Library 18 Create a Lesson Plan 20 Add a Quiz to a Lesson Plan 24 Add Homework 27 Collect Homework 29 Manage Students 32 View Student Information 33 Access E-Portfolio Documents 34 View Attendance Trends 35 Submit a Disciplinary Incident 36 View Gradebook Assignment Scores 38 Manage Progress Reports 39 Create Events and Communicate 40 Add a Class Announcement or Alert 41 Send an or Message 42 View, Create, and Manage Calendar Events 45 View Staff and Parent Directory 48 Manage Course Requests 50 Review and Approve Course Requests 51 Create a Course Catalog Description 53 Recommend Courses for a Student 54 v iii

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5 Introduction What's TeacherPlus Portal? As a teacher, TeacherPlus Portal (PlusPortals) is your primary access point to manage your classes as well as share classroom data and communicate with parents and students. You can manage your classes in a variety of ways, including: Assigning and collecting homework Viewing assignment grades Adding resources, such as files and links Creating lesson plans (and optionally sharing them with parents and students) Viewing attendance trends and disciplinary incidents Sending messages or s, posting classroom announcements, and creating calendar events for students and/or parents TeacherPlus also works in conjunction with Gradebook, enabling you to directly access Gradebook right from the portal for grading and taking attendance. Who's this guide for? If you're a teacher, this guide is for you. It provides you with step-by-step instructions along with overviews on the most important tasks you need in order to manage your classrooms and communicate with parents and students. PlusPortals administrators should refer to our PlusPortals Manager Quick Start Guide on how to configure TeacherPlus and ParentPlus. Parents and students who are looking to learn how to use the portals should check out our fun interactive guides on using the parent and student portals. v

6 CHAPTER 1 Get Started Log in to Your Portal and Home Page 7 Configure Course Display Settings 9 Manage a Class: An Overview 11 Get Started 6

7 Log in to Your Portal and Home Page Accessing your teacher portal is as easy as entering your school's portal web address, which follows this format: plusportals.com/yourschoolname. Do one of the following to log in to your teacher portal: If you already have a TeacherPlus Gradebook user name and password, log in using the Gradebook credentials, as they're the same for your convenience. If you only use PlusPortals and not TeacherPlus Gradebook, follow the instructions in the activation you received from your administrator to activate your account and set your password. Note: If you ever lose your password and have trouble accessing your account, click the Can t access your account? link on the login page to recover the password. Select a Class and View Schoolwide Announcements Once you log in to the portal, you'll be taken to the Home page. From the Home page, you can access all of your classes, open the gradebook of any class, and see school notifications, events, files, and links. To navigate across the main portal pages, use the blue navigation bar at the top. First Half of the Home Page (See Figure Above) A B C D Main Menu Your classes: Click a class name to open and manage the class. Launch the gradebook for the class. Clicking a notification icon displays details about the notification. Icons from left to right: Alerts, Messages, Notifications, and Calendar. 7 Get Started

8 Note: After you open a class page, you can switch between classes using the Viewing drop-down list, located on the right side of the screen, opposite of where your picture and notification icons are. Second Half of the Home Page (See Figure Above) E Notifications & Alerts panel: Review urgent schoolwide alerts, such as a snow day. Download, edit, or delete the notification or alert by clicking the icons corresponding to the item in the panel. F G Calendar Events panel: Stay up-to-date on school and class events. School Announcements panel: Your school may post general announcements, such as when grades are due. Download, edit, or delete the announcement by clicking the icons corresponding to the item in the panel. H I School Links And Files panel: Any files or links your school has shared with staff members appear here. Clicking a blue view icon corresponding to an item in the View column shows more details about the item. Note: Announcements, notifications, and alerts can also be seen by clicking School Announcements on the main navigation bar. Get Started 8

9 Configure Course Display Settings If enabled by your portal administrator, you can set which classes or sections are visible to you and your students and their parents as well as change the display name for the class/section. This feature is especially useful when you want to hide second semester courses/sections when you're still teaching first semester courses/sections. The feature also makes it easy for you to assign different class/section names unique to your teacher portal and the student and parent portals. Note: Course visibility affects whether or not a course appears on the portal home page, and display name affects what title is shown for the course. 1. At the upper-right corner of your teacher portal, click your name, and then click Settings. The Settings page displays all courses available to you, and it enables you to change their visibility and display name. Course Settings Explained (See figure above.) A B C D Select whether or not a class/section is displayed on your teacher portal. Set course titles for your teacher portal only. Choose which courses to make available to your students and their parents. Set course titles for the student andparent portals only. 9 Get Started

10 2. In the Staff Visibility column, select the check box corresponding to each course you want to appear in your teacher portal. Clearing a check box hides the course/section. 3. In the Display Name for Staff column, edit the course names as you want them to be displayed to you. 4. In the Parent/Student Visibility column, select the check box for each course you want parents and students to access on their respective portals. 5. In the Display Name for Parent/Student column, edit the course/section names as you would like them displayed to parents and students on their portals. 6. Click OK to save and finalize your changes. Note: Editing a course/section display name doesn't change the core course name for administrative purposes (in AdminPlus), but it simply changes how the course/section title is displayed on the portals. Get Started 10

11 Manage a Class: An Overview Managing a class starts with clicking the class from the Home page. Once the class page loads, you can manage your class using the various tabs on the class navigation menu, explained in this topic. Which tabs appear in your portal are determined by your TeacherPlus Portal administrator. Main class tab : Post your class summary, homework, announcements, and resources. Lesson Planner: Create lesson plans for units or other important learning milestones, add resources and learning objectives to the plans, and share the plans with students and/or parents. Progress: View graphs, charts, and an analysis of students in your classroom. Students: Select any of your students to view information about him or her, including demographics, recent grades, progress, attendance, and discipline. Attendance: View absence and tardy totals for your class. See attendance trends by date as well as by month. Scores: View students' assignment scores, individual student scores (with annotations), and missing work information (also with annotations). Score information is available for all classes, including those classes taught by other teachers. All score information comes from Gradebook. Homework: Access the homework assignments students have submitted via Homework Hand-in from their E-Locker. Discipline: Add disciplinary incidents for students and submit them to the main office for processing. Announcements: Manage all of your class announcements as well as edit or delete them. Any announcements you create appear on the main class page. Resources: Add links and files to a class. The class links and files are shown on the main class page. Tip: Navigate between classes using the Viewing drop-down list, located at the upper-right (opposite of your picture and notification icons). 11 Get Started

12 CHAPTER 2 Manage Classes Add a Class Summary 13 Add a Class File or Link 16 Import Previous Year Content from Library 18 Create a Lesson Plan 20 Add a Quiz to a Lesson Plan 24 Add Homework 27 Collect Homework 29 Manage Classes 12

13 Add a Class Summary Adding a class summary is the first step to customizing a class page. You can describe what the class is all about through text and images, such as what students will learn and what the objectives are. You can also copy a summary you've created previously both from and to an existing class. The class summary is visible to parents and students, so make sure you take the time to make it really presentable. Create a Class Summary from Scratch 1. Open your class page. 2. To create a new class summary or edit an existing one, click Edit at the upper-right corner of the Class Summary panel. You can take advantage of the text editor when editing the class summary to expedite formatting, including: Formatting headings and paragraphs Making text bold, italicized, or underlined Aligning text left, center, or right Creating bullet points and numbered lists Adding hyperlinks, YouTube links, tables, and images from the web or from your computer 3. Click Save to complete the process and save your changes. Tip: You can also format a class summary in Microsoft Word, and paste in the portal. The general formatting will transfer. 13 Manage Classes

14 Copy a Class Summary from a Previous Year If you're adding the class summary for a class that you've taught the previous year, you can copy the summary you used that year. 1. Click Copy at the upper-right corner of the Class Summary panel. 2. In the Copy Class dialog box, click Copy Class Summary from Library (Previous Year), and click Next. 3. Confirm the warning, and then click Save to complete the process and save your changes. Copy a Class Summary to Other Classes If you teach two or more sections of the same class, it's a good idea to create a class summary for the first section and then copy the summary from the first section to the other sections. 1. Click Copy at the upper-right corner of the Class Summary panel. 2. In the Copy Class dialog box, click Copy Class Summary to Other Sections, and click Next. Note: If you haven't taught the class in the previous year, after you click Copy Class, you'll automatically be taken to select the classes that you want to copy the summary to. In other words, clicking the option Copy Class Summary to Other Sections won't be necessary. 3. Select the check boxes of the classes you want to copy the summary to, and click Copy. Manage Classes 14

15 4. Click Save to complete the process and save your changes. 15 Manage Classes

16 Add a Class File or Link You can share class files and links with your students by adding the content to your class page. You also have the option to send an notification to students once you've added the resources. This feature is perfect for when you need to share a syllabus and website links with students and/or parents. Add a New File or Link You can add a file or link either from the main class tab or from the Resources tab. 1. Click Add New at the upper-right corner of the Files or Links panel, depending on what kind of resource you want to add. 2. Enter the description for the file or link. Note: When adding the URL of a link, remember to start it with 3. If adding a file, click Select File, and select the file to be uploaded from your computer. Manage Classes 16

17 4. Do one of the following: Click a folder from the Select Folder list to store the file. Click New to create a new folder, name and save the folder, and then select it from the Select Folder list. 5. Select the check box for the classes you would like to add the file or link to. 6. Select the Send Notification check box if you want students of the selected classes to receive an notification. 7. Click Save. The link or file you've added can be viewed in its respective panel. To edit the file or link, click Edit next to the item. Tip: If you've added a file or link and later realized you wanted to add the resource to more classes, you can edit which classes the resource applies to. In the Files panel, click Edit next to the file or link, select the classes, and click Save. While editing the file or link, you can also revise its description. Add a File or Link from a Previous Year If you've taught a certain class for the previous school year, you can always import files or links from the previous year to the same course in the new year. 1. At the upper-right corner of the Files or Links panel, click Add From Library, depending on whether you want to add a file or link. 2. Select the folder where the file or link is, and then select the file or link from the previous year. 3. Click Save. Note: The Add From Library feature pertains to importing content to the same course from the previous school year only. Therefore, the feature doesn't apply if you didn't also teach that exact same class the previous year. 17 Manage Classes

18 Import Previous Year Content from Library When you've taught a particular class the previous school year, you can take advantage of the Library feature to import files, links, homework, and even a class summary from the previous class to the new one. You can save time and reuse content from the previous year. Even if the content has slightly changed in the new year, you can still copy the resources from the previous year and then make any necessary changes for the new year. You can copy resources from a previous year with the Library feature directly from a given resource panel on the main class tab. Add a Class Summary from Library 1. Click Copy at the upper-right corner of the Class Summary panel. 2. Do one of the following: Click either Copy Class Summary from Library (Previous Year), and then click Next. Warning: Clicking this option will overwrite your current class description with the one from the previous year. Click Copy Class Summary to Other Sections, click Next, select the course, and then click Copy. Add Homework from Library 1. Click Add at the upper-right corner of the Homework/Assignment panel, and then click From Manage Classes 18

19 Library. 2. Do one of the following: Click Add from a previous year s class. Click Add from another class this year. 3. Select the class, the assignment, and click Next. 4. Check the assignment information, make any necessary changes, and then click Save to add the assignment. Add a Link or File from Library 1. Click Add From Library at the upper-right corner of the Links or Files panel. 2. Do one of the following: Click Add from a previous year s class. Click Add from another class this year. 3. Select the class, the file or link, and click Next. 4. Check the link or file information, make any necessary changes, and then click Save to complete the process. 19 Manage Classes

20 Create a Lesson Plan Every class has learning objectives, and these objectives are usually covered throughout the school year as units, chapters, or other similar milestones. With the Lesson Planner feature, you can plan an entire unit by creating well-structured lesson plans for the lessons that make up a unit and share them with students and parents. For example, if a math teacher were to teach a whole unit on fractions, he or she could create individual lesson plans for that unit, such as one lesson plan that focused on adding fractions, another focusing on subtracting fractions, and so on. You can create a lesson plan or unit from scratch or you can import one from the library. If you import a lesson plan or unit from the library, you can select from a previous year's class or from a different class from the current year. You can also copy a lesson plan or unit from one class to another by clicking Copy in the lesson plan or unit panel. When creating a lesson plan, you can do the following: Create a brand new lesson plan or add one from another class or the previous school year. Add a summary or objectives Add homework assignments or online quizzes Add digital resources, such as documents and links Add skills and standards (if your school uses them) Share the lesson plans with students and parents Set up a Unit and Lesson Plan 1. Open the class you want to add the lesson plan to. 2. Click Lesson Planner on the class navigation bar. 3. Do one of the following: Click Create a new unit, click Next, set the unit name and start and end date, and click Save. Manage Classes 20

21 Note: The start and end date refer to the date the unit will be covered. Click Add a unit from a previous year's class, click Next, select the course, and then click Next. Click Add a unit from another class this year, click Next, select the course, and then click Next. Note: Once you add a unit, it appears as its own panel to the right of the Units and Lesson Plans panel. 4. In the panel for the unit you just created, click + New Lesson to add a lesson plan to the unit. 21 Manage Classes

22 5. Give the lesson a name, and set the start and end date for the lesson. 6. To make the lessons visible to parents and students, select the check box Visible to Parents and Students, and then set the date the information will be published to them. Note: You may not want to share the lesson plan with students and parents until you've added and edited all the necessary information for the plan. In this case, you can edit the lesson plan later and select to share it with parents and students. 7. Click Save. The following diagram illustrates how you can manage your units and lesson plans. A B C D E F Create new units. Click the small arrow icon beside a unit to expand it and reveal all of its lessons. Click a lesson in a unit to expand the lesson so that you can add content to it. Use the management buttons at the upper-right corner of a specific unit panel to edit the unit, copy it to a different section, delete it, print it, or add a lesson to it. Clicking the title of a lesson in a given unit panel also expands the lesson, allowing you to add content to the lesson plan. After expanding a lesson, click Edit to change the title of the lesson, date range, and visibility. Click Delete to delete the lesson. Add Content to a Lesson Plan Manage Classes 22

23 Once you create a lesson plan, the next step involves adding content to the plan. Click the title of the lesson in its unit panel to expand the lesson, revealing content options. The following table explains additional tasks you can perform Task To add a lesson summary/overview Action Click the Edit button for Overview/Objective, add the necessary information, and click Save. To add homework Click Add New next to Activities. When the New Homework/Assignment dialog box appears, fill out the necessary information (including visibility settings), and click Save. To add a quiz To attach a document or add a link Please see the topic Add a Quiz to a Lesson Plan for detailed instructions. Click Add New next to Digital Resources, and then click either Document or Link. Fill out the necessary information, depending on the resource type you chose, and then click Save. To add skills Click Add New next to Skills and Standards, click the skill, and then click Select. Repeat this step to add more skills. If adding a list of consecutive skills, click the first and last skill while holding the Shift key to select all the skills at once. Note that you can only select from the list of available skills created by your school. Tip: To edit or delete added homework or resources, use the edit and delete icons right of the assignment or resource., located to the 23 Manage Classes

24 Add a Quiz to a Lesson Plan In addition to being able to add homework and resources to a lesson plan, you can also build quizzes to test students' understanding of a lesson. Students can then take the quizzes directly from their student portal. When creating questions for a quiz, you can choose a variety of formats, including multiple choice, essay, file upload, and true or false. Building a quiz involves the following tasks: creating sections for the quiz, adding questions to each section, and setting the points for each question. Note: When students have taken the quiz, you can view the quiz submissions and grades from the E- Locker page. Also, you need to manually enter the scores in the appropriate gradebook in TeacherPlus Gradebook because the scores are not added automatically. To add a quiz to a lesson plan, do the following: 1. On the Lesson Planner page, make sure to expand the lesson panel for the lesson you want to add the quiz to. You can expand the lesson panel by clicking the lesson title in the Unit panel. 2. In Activities, click Add New, and then click Quiz. 3. Click Create New Quiz, and then click Next. 4. Give the quiz a name, a description, a duration (in minutes), and a due date. 5. To make the quiz visible to parents and students, select the check box Visible to Parents & Students, and then set a publish date for when they will be able to see it. Note: The due date is the last day students will be able to take the quiz from their portal, whereas the publish date is the first day students (and their parents) will be able to view and take the quiz. 6. Click Next: Add Section to save and proceed to creating sections for the quiz. Manage Classes 24

25 7. Enter a description for the section. The description could be anything that helps identify the section. For example, it could be something as generic as "Multiple Choice" or as specific as "Solving for X," depending on the kind of quiz. 8. Optional: Select the check box Randomize Questions to randomize all the questions that you'll later add to this section. 9. Click Next: Add Question to save and proceed to adding questions to the section. 10. Click a question type from the Question Type list, enter the question, and type the number of points. Note: If adding a multiple choice question that supports more than one correct answer, make sure to click the Multiple Choice Multiple Answers option. All the other multiple choice options only support one correct answer. 25 Manage Classes

26 11. Optional: To randomize all possible answers, select the check box Randomize Choices. 12. If adding a multiple choice or true or false question, type an answer, click Add another answer to continue adding answers (applies to multiple choice questions only), and click Set as correct answer next to the appropriate correct answer(s). 13. Click Save to create the question, and repeat steps 10 through 13 to continue adding more questions. Tip: While you're on the questions screen, you can edit or delete any existing questions from the Question list, located below the Add Questions panel. 14. When you're done adding all the questions to the section, do one of the following: Click Back to Quiz Section, and repeats steps 7 through 13 to create additional sections and questions. Click Back to Lesson Planner to quit the Quiz Builder. Note: Students can take the quiz from their portal by looking at the lesson plan and clicking the quiz in the Activities section of the plan. Manage and Preview Quizzes You can manage existing quizzes from the main lesson plan panel by using the management icons beside each quiz. From left to right, the icons are as follows: Edit, Delete, and Preview. Clicking the preview icon enables you to get a printable preview of the entire quiz, including its answer key. This feature is perfect for when you need to go over a quiz with the entire class after you've graded and returned the quizzes. You can edit any of the parts of an existing quiz by clicking the edit icon. After the Quiz Builder appears, select the quiz on the right, and either edit the general information about the quiz, or click Next to proceed to the section screen. Similarly, when the section screen appears, you can either delete or edit a section, or you can select a section and click Next to proceed to the questions screen for the selected section. Manage Classes 26

27 Add Homework Homework assignments can be added from the main class tab at any time (even in advance). When adding an assignment, you can attach files, pick a due date and a date range to make the assignment visible to students, post to calendar, send a notification to students, and choose whether or not to make the assignment visible to parents and students at all. A single homework assignment can also be added to more than one class, which is useful when you teach different sections of the same class. For classes you've taught in the previous school year, you can easily import the same assignment from last year. Add a Brand New Homework Assignment 1. Click Add at the upper-right corner of the Homework/Assignment panel, and then click Homework/Assignment. 2. Add a title and description for the assignment. 3. If you want to make the assignment visible to parents and students, select the check box Visible to Parents and Students. Otherwise, clear the check box. 4. Pick a due date for the course by clicking the calendar icon, and select a date range for when you want to make the assignment visible to students. 5. Optional: Share a link with students in Link URL and Link Text (title), and attach a file (for example, assignment instructions) by clicking Select files. 6. Select the check box corresponding to each class you want to add the assignment to. 7. Optional: Select the check box Post to Calendar to add the assignment to your portal calendar as well as the portal calendar of parents and students. This feature is really useful when you want to give yourself and students a visual reminder about the assignment. 27 Manage Classes

28 8. If adding the assignment to Gradebook, select the check box Add to Gradebook as Assignment, select an assignment category and a marking period, and set the maximum number of points for the assignment. Note: The assignment categories come from Gradebook and are set there. 9. Select the check box Send Notification to send a notification to students and parents. 10. Click Save to complete creating the assignment. Note: The due date and visible date features work together to help you add assignments in advance. Example: Anna is a teacher who always has her ducks in a row. It's the first day of school, September 1, and she wants to create an assignment for her class that's due October 31. However, she doesn't want to make the assignment visible to students until October 10. So, Anna sets the due date to October 31 and the visible date range to October 10 and 31. Add an Assignment from the Previous School Year Note: This feature only works for assignments you added to the exact same class last year. 1. Click Add at the upper-right corner of the Homework/Assignment panel, and then click From Library. 2. Select the folder where the assignment is, and then select the assignment. 3. Click Save to complete adding the assignment. Manage Classes 28

29 Collect Homework There are two ways to collect homework from your teacher portal: using the Homework tab from a class page or accessing the main E-Locker homework repository. When you collect homework using the Homework tab from a class page, only the assignments for that particular class appear. In contrast, E-Locker enables you to collect homework assignments for any of your assigned classes. Both methods are explained in this topic. Collect Homework from a Class Page 1. From the Home page, click a desired class. 2. Click Homework on the class navigation bar. 3. Click the homework assignment you want to collect from the Homework list. Note: Clicking the homework assignment displays all current student submissions. If a given student's submission doesn't appear, it means the student has not yet submitted the assignment via E-Locker from their student portal. 4. When the assignment submissions appear, click the link under Attachments for a given submission to view the student's assignment. Note: If the student completed the assignment directly from the portal text editor, clicking the attachment link opens a new web page that displays the assignment. If the student attached a Microsoft Word file or a similar type of attachment, clicking the link downloads the file to your computer. 5. To comment on the assignment, click the Comment button, type the comment, and click Save. The student will be able to view the comment from his or her student portal. The following figure demonstrates the homework collection process from the Homework tab. 29 Manage Classes

30 Collect Homework Using E-Locker 1. Click E-Locker on the main navigation bar. 2. Click the Homework Hand-in tab. 3. Select a specific class from the Class drop-down list or select All Classes to view homework from all of your classes. 4. Click the homework assignment to be collected from the Homework list. 5. In the Details column, click the Attachments link for a given student to view the assignment. 6. To comment on the assignment, click the Comment button, type the comment, and click Save. The student will be able to view the comment from his or her student portal. Note: Remember to use the navigation arrow at the bottom-left corner of the Homework Handin tab to navigate between submissions. The following figure illustrates the homework collection process in E-Locker. Tip: You can customize the number of submissions you can view at once (10, 20, 50, or 100). Click one of the options from the Documents per page list at the bottom of the Homework Hand-in tab. You can also filter results by a certain information column by using the filter icon at the top of the column. Manage Classes 30

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32 CHAPTER 3 Manage Students View Student Information 33 Access E-Portfolio Documents 34 View Attendance Trends 35 Submit a Disciplinary Incident 36 View Gradebook Assignment Scores 38 Manage Progress Reports 39 Manage Students 32

33 View Student Information When working with a particular class in your portal, you can view a variety of information about the students in that class, including: grades demographics contact information attendance disciplinary incidents class schedule 1. After selecting a class, click the Students tab on the class navigation bar. 2. Click a student from the list. Only the students for that particular class appear. When you click a student, grades, scores, attendance, and disciplinary incidents appear in separate blue panels, one for each type of information. To View grades based on a marking period View contact information View demographics View the student's class schedule Submit a disciplinary incident Do this In the Progress panel, click a marking period from the dropdown list. Click the Contacts button. Click the View Demographics button. Click the View Schedule button. In the Incident Submittal panel, click Add. 33 Manage Students

34 Access E-Portfolio Documents Teachers and staff members can access and download any of their own E-Portfolio items or those of their students using the E-Locker in the teacher portal. Parents can access the portfolio items of their children, and students can access their own portfolio documents.to use this feature, a PlusPortal administrator must first have enabled the proper portfolio category permissions in the admin portal. For more information on managing portfolio categories in the admin portal, see the topic Manage Portfolio Categories. To access portfolio documents in the teacher, parent, or student portal, do the following: 1. Click E-Locker on the navigation bar. 2. Click the E-Portfolio tab. 3. For TeacherPlus Portal only: Do either of the following: To view your own documents, click the My Documents tab. To view student documents, click the My Students Documents tab. 4. For TeacherPlus Portal only: If you clicked My Students Documents, click the applicable section from the Select a section drop-down list, and then click the applicable student from the Select a student drop-down list. A list of all portfolio documents associated with the selected student appears. 5. To download a document, click. Manage Students 34

35 View Attendance Trends While working in a specific class in the portal, you can view attendance trends for that class on the Attendance tab, including visual charts. The following attendance information is available from the Attendance tab: absence totals, tardy totals, and attendance charts by date and by month. From a specific class page, click Attendance on the class navigation bar. Different attendance information is displayed in blue panels. To expand the information of a given panel, click the maximize icon at the upper-right corner of the panel. 35 Manage Students

36 Submit a Disciplinary Incident Whenever a student commits an infraction, you can submit the incident directly from your portal. Upon submitting the incident, it is sent to your school's front desk for approval, and, after approved, the incident will remain in the student's permanent record. When adding an incident, you can select from a list of predefined infractions, actions, and places, add your own comments, and indicate time served. 1. From the Home page, open the class the student is in. 2. Click Discipline on the class navigation bar. 3. Click the student's name from the View incidents for list. 4. In the Incident Submittal panel, click Add. 5. At the top of the New Incident Form page, set the date the incident took place. 6. Optional: Set a follow-up date at the upper-right corner. The follow-up date can be used by the front desk to send information to parents, such as letters. This date is to be the same as the incident date from step 5, unless indicated by your school otherwise. 7. In the Infraction panel, click Add, click an incident type, and then click Select. Warning: After you select an infraction, an action is automatically selected for you in the Actions panel, based on your school's policies. Although you can edit the number and types of actions relating to an incident, you should consult your school's policy first. Manage Students 36

37 8. Optional: In the Action panel, click Add, and then set the date for when the action will be taken for the infraction. For example, the date could be when the student will serve detention. 9. Optional: Select an action type from the list, and then click Select. 10. Optional: If any other teachers were involved in the incident, click Add in the Teacher panel, click a teacher from the list, and then click Select. 11. In the Place panel, click Add, click a place from the list for when the incident took place, and then click Select. 12. Optional: Enter any comments of your own in the Comment panel. 13. In the Served panel, click Add, and select the date when the student completed serving time for the infraction. 14. Select one of the options from the list regarding how the student served time, and click Select. Note: If the student has yet to serve time for the incident, you may want to leave the Served section blank, save the form, and return to the form when the information is available. Be sure to click Save (and not Submit) if you're not yet ready to submit the form to your school's front desk. 15. Do one of the following: If you're ready to submit the form, click Submit at the bottom of the page. Click Save if you need to return to the form later to add more information. 16. To print the form, click Print. Tip: To return to a form you've saved, click the Discipline tab on the class navigation bar. Click the student's name in the View incidents for list. The incident form you saved can be found in the Incident Submittal panel, from which you can view, print, edit, delete, or submit the incident. 37 Manage Students

38 View Gradebook Assignment Scores When managing a class on your portal, you can view the scores of any existing assignments that you graded in Gradebook on the Scores tab. 1. Open the class you want to view the scores for. 2. On the class navigation bar, click Scores. All the Gradebook assignments appear in the Scores panel. At a glance, you can see the date of the assignment, the possible points, and the class average. 3. To view all of the scores for a particular assignment, click the view icon corresponding to the assignment. A blue panel appears with the name of the assignment, listing the scores of each student, such as in the following example. Manage Students 38

39 Manage Progress Reports During the school year, you may want to view progress reports for the students in your classes. If your TeacherPlus administrator has enabled this feature, your portal gives you a convenient place to view the progress report of each student in a selected course under the Progress tab. If a student is in more than one of your courses, a combined progress report is available in the Combined Reports panel. 1. On your portal Home screen, click a course title. 2. Click the Progress tab. 3. Click to view a student's progress report. 4. To delete a student's progress report, click. 39 Manage Students

40 CHAPTER 4 Create Events and Communicate Add a Class Announcement or Alert 41 Send an or Message 42 View, Create, and Manage Calendar Events 45 View Staff and Parent Directory 48 Create Events and Communicate 40

41 Add a Class Announcement or Alert You can post a class announcement or alert from the main class tab or the Announcements tab. Announcements are better suited for non-emergency events (for example, a field trip or class presentation), whereas alerts are often used for emergencies (for instance, a class cancellation). Whether you send an announcement or an alert, you can choose to send it to students and/or parents. 1. From the main class page, click Add New at the upper-right corner of the Class Announcements and Alerts panel. 2. Click Announcement or Alert, depending on what kind of announcement you want to post. 3. Add a title and description. 4. Set the start date and end date by clicking the calendar icon. The start date is when the announcement or alert will be visible to students and/or parents, whereas the end date is the last day the announcement will be visible. 5. In the Visible To area, select the check box for Parents and/or Students, depending on whom you want to make the announcement/alert visible to. 6. Select the check box for each class the announcement applies to. The announcement or alert will be sent to the parents and/or students of the selected classes. 7. Optional: Attach a file from your computer to the announcement by clicking Select file. Add a link: Make sure to add a descriptive title to the link in Link Text, and enter the URL for the link in Link URL, beginning with Select the Send Notification check box to send an message to the recipients regarding the announcement or alert. 8. Click Publish to post the announcement. 41 Create Events and Communicate

42 Send an or Message and Messages Overview You can communicate with students and parents from your teacher portal in two ways: via message or . A portal is a full-fledged and is delivered to a student's or parent's personal inbox and their portal inbox. Messages are a means of communicating in the portals only, and students can only retrieve these messages in their student portal. As a result, could be used as the primary method of communication, but messages are preferred when your students might not have addresses. The following features are available for only: Saving drafts Viewing sent s Sending attachments archive for previous school years Sending an or message starts with clicking & Messages on the main navigation bar. The & Messages page is organized into two tab screens, one for s and another for messages. The following diagram explains the page's main functionality. & Messages Diagram (See Figure Above) A B C Switch between s and messages. Access your inbox, drafts, and sent s. View archived for previous school years. D See details of an by clicking the view icon. E F Reply to an or delete it. Browse and select how many s to display per page. Create Events and Communicate 42

43 Send an 1. Click the tab. 2. Click New In the New screen, do one of the following: Enter the address of the recipient(s) in the To box. Click Add Recipients, click a recipient group, select the recipient(s), click Next, and click OK. If selecting students, remember to select the Student and/or Parents option at the bottom of the Select Recipients dialog box before clicking Next. Note: Recipients who do not have a valid address will not be able to receive the . After selecting recipients and clicking Next, the portal displays any recipients who do not have a valid address. 4. Fill out the subject and message. Use the text editor to format the and to add links and images. 5. Optional: Attach a file by clicking Select files. 6. Do one of the following: If you're ready to send the , click Send. You can find all of your sent s in the Sent Items folder. 43 Create Events and Communicate

44 If you want to save the as a draft, click Save, and then click Back to to return to the tab. Your draft can be found in the Drafts folder on the tab. Tip: To view more than 10 messages per page, click one of the options from the s per page list, located at the bottom of the list. If you have several s, use the navigation arrows at the bottom to browse the list. Send a Message 1. On the & Messages page, click the Messages tab. 2. Click New Message. 3. Fill out the subject and message. 4. Do any of the following: Select the Students check box if sending a message to students. Select the Parents check box if sending the message to parents, and then click All Parents or Only to Primary Parent from the drop-down list. 5. In Select Recipients by, do one of the following: 6. Click Send. Click Sections, select the check box for each section you want to send the message to. The message will be sent to the students in the section(s) (and their parents if you selected so in the previous step). Click Student, and select the check box for each student the message is to be sent to. Create Events and Communicate 44

45 View, Create, and Manage Calendar Events You can create calendar events for any class event from the Calendar page, visible to parents and/or students. Teachers can only create events visible to the students and parents of the classes taught by the teachers themselves. You can easily manage events after creating them as well as print a list of all upcoming events. View Calendar Events Click Calendar on the main navigation bar. From the Calendar page, you can view any schoolwide events or any events you've created for your classes (including assignments you've selected to post to calendar). Do any of the following to view and navigate through existing events: Click any event to view more details about it. Change how you view the calendar by clicking the Day, Month, Week, or Agenda options at the upper-right corner of the calendar. 45 Create Events and Communicate

46 Browse the calendar using the controls at the upper-left corner of the calendar. Filter calendar events using the Filter list (located at the upper-left corner) by a category you've created. Create a Calendar Event 1. Click Calendar on the main navigation bar. 2. Click New Event. 3. Enter the event s title, summary, location, and select to make the event visible to parents and/or students. 4. Set the start and end date of the event using the calendar icon, and set the time of the event using the clock icon. If the event is to take place all day, you don't need to set the start and end hour. Simply set the start and end date, and then select the check box All Day Event. 5. Select a category for the event from the Select Category list. If a category doesn't yet exist, click New, give the category a name, choose a color for the category, and then click Save. When creating a new category, the color you set for the category will apply to all future events associated with that category. For example, if you create a category called "Field Trips" and make it blue, any events associated with that category will appear in blue on the calendar. 6. From the Repeat list, set the repeat frequency for the event. By default, the repeat frequency is set to Never. 7. Select the classes the event applies to, and click Save to complete creating the event. Create Events and Communicate 46

47 Manage Your Existing Events Click Manage Events to display all the events you've created. To Edit a calendar event Delete an event Print a list of events Do this Click the Edit button corresponding to an event to edit it, make the necessary changes, and click Save. Click the Delete button corresponding to an event. Click Print Events, set a date range for the events to be printed, and click Print. Return to viewing all calendar events Click Show Events. 47 Create Events and Communicate

48 View Staff and Parent Directory If enabled by your school, you can quickly view a directory of staff and/or parents on the Directory page. Click Directory on the main navigation bar to access the Directory page. Navigate the Directory A B C D E Switch between staff, parent, and student directories. To find a specific staff member, parent, or student, type his or her name in the search bar, and click Search. To obtain a list of staff members or parents by their last name, click a letter on Search by Alphabet. Print the directory. Browse directory pages. Create Events and Communicate 48

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50 CHAPTER 5 Manage Course Requests Review and Approve Course Requests 51 Create a Course Catalog Description 53 Recommend Courses for a Student 54 Manage Course Requests 50

51 Review and Approve Course Requests The Course Request process is performed in the following order: An administrator creates a course request form and publishes it for students to complete. Once a student has completed the course request form, parents can approve and comment on their children's course selection. Then a reviewer, such as a teacher or staff member, reviews, approves, and sends the course request form to the office via AdminPlus for processing. Review and Approve Course Requests for an Individual Student 1. Click Course Requests on the main navigation bar. 2. Select the form you want to review from the drop-down list. 3. Click next to the student s information to review the course request form. When a student has requested a course, the check box next to the course title is selected. 4. Click the arrow next to the course title to expand the course and reveal parent and student comments. Note: Review your school s policy for approving course requests. Some schools will only approve the student s course request if a parent has also approved the selection. 5. Select the check box Approved by Reviewer, and add any comments. The reviewer s remarks are visible to both parents and students. 51 Manage Course Requests

52 6. To approve all of the courses the student has selected, click Approve All Selected Course Requests at the bottom of the course request form. 7. If you're not sure about a course on the student s course request form, click Save & Revisit Later. Warning: Only click Submit when you're sure that you want the course request form to be sent to the office. Once you click Submit, you can't go back and edit the course request form. Review and Approve Course Requests for Several Students at Once 1. Click Course Requests on the main navigation bar. The Course Requests page loads, displaying the Review Requests tab by default. 2. Select the form you want to review from the drop-down list. 3. Select the check box next to the names of the students whose courses you want to approve. 4. Click Approve All Selected Course Requests to complete the process and send the course requests to the office. The following diagram explains the main features of the Review Requests tab screen. Overview of Review Requests Features A B C D E This check box only appears if a student has submitted a course request form. After you review the course request form, the check box disappears. This is the date that the students were given access to this form. This is the date that the student submitted the course request form. This is the date that you reviewed and approved the course request form. This is the date that the office received the course request form. Manage Course Requests 52

53 Create a Course Catalog Description Using the Course Catalog, you can create a course description and add any information you want students to see when they're requesting the course. You can also change the appearance of the summary using the text editor for that perfect personal touch. The course summary is available for students if they choose to display more information about the course while completing a Course Request form. To create a course description, do the following: 1. On the Course Requests page, click Course Catalog. 2. Select the course you want to edit from the list of courses. The text editor appears to the right of the course. 3. Enter or edit the course description in the text editor. You can use the text editor to: Format headings and paragraphs. Make text bold, italicized, or underlined Align text left, center, or right. Create bullet point and numbered lists. Add hyperlinks, tables, and images from the web or from your computer. 4. Click Save to complete the process. 53 Manage Course Requests

54 Recommend Courses for a Student At the beginning of the course request process, you can recommend courses students should take. The students then see your recommendations when they complete their course request form. Keep in mind that course recommendations are simply suggestions and aren t permanently assigned to the students. Recommend Courses for an Individual Student 1. Click Course Requests page on the navigation bar, and then click Recommendations. 2. Select a student from the Student Name Column. 3. Click Add Course Requests at the bottom of the page. 4. Select a course from the dialog box to request for the student, and click Next. 5. To remove a course recommendation, select the course you added from the Courses table, and then click Remove Selected Course Requests at the bottom. Tip: You can add a comment to a course recommendation, which students can see on their course request form. Select a course you've recommended from the Courses table, click Edit above Recommendations text box, enter the comment, and click Save. Manage Course Requests 54

55 The following diagram summarizes how to manage course recommendations: Course Recommendations Screen Overview A B C Select a student before recommending a course. Any courses you recommend appear in the course list. Enter comments for the selected recommended course. Students will see the comments when the recommended course appears on the course request form. Batch Recommend Courses for Several Students 1. On the Course Requests page, click Recommendations. 2. Click Batch Add Course Requests. 3. In the Students from which section area, select the section the students are currently in. 4. In the Which Students area, select the students you're recommending the courses for. 5. In the Displaying Courses from Scheduling Yeararea, select the courses you're recommending for the students. 6. Click Next at the bottom right to complete the process. Tip: You can also batch remove course requests from the Recommendations screen. Click Batch Remove Course Requests, select the current section and students on the right, select the course(s) to remove on the left, and then click Next. 55 Manage Course Requests

56 The following diagram illustrates the workflow for batch adding or removing students. Batch Course Recommendation Overview A B C Select a course from this table to view the students enrolled. Select the students from this table to add a course request or remove a course request. Select a course from this table to add a course request or remove a course request. Manage Course Requests 56